ICT Integration in Early Math Education

This assignment delves into the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance mathematical learning in early childhood. It examines different ways ICT can be integrated into the classroom, highlighting the potential benefits for children's understanding and engagement with mathematics. The discussion also considers the challenges and best practices associated with implementing ICT effectively in this context.

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Mathematical Experience for Children
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Mathematics in Real World.............................................................................................................5
Evidence...................................................................................................................................5
Rationale...................................................................................................................................6
Application...............................................................................................................................6
Mathematics and Early Childhood..................................................................................................7
Planned Play.................................................................................................................................7
Evidence...................................................................................................................................7
Rationale...................................................................................................................................8
Application...............................................................................................................................8
Math in Daily Life........................................................................................................................9
Evidence...................................................................................................................................9
Rational..................................................................................................................................10
Application.............................................................................................................................10
Mathematics and Primary school...................................................................................................11
Evidence.................................................................................................................................11
Rationale.................................................................................................................................12
Application.............................................................................................................................12

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Mathematics and the Learning Environment.................................................................................13
Evidence.................................................................................................................................13
Rationale.................................................................................................................................14
Application.............................................................................................................................14
New Modalities and Mathematics.................................................................................................15
Evidence.................................................................................................................................15
Rationale.................................................................................................................................16
Application.............................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17

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Introduction
The focus of the study is to describe the importance of math throughout life and the
process of learning from early childhood to later part of life. The resources are use to identify the
process of learning and teaching where the environment is considered an important part. The real
world application of math is also highlight in the folio.
Mathematics is a discipline included in science that deals with quantity, arrangement and
the logic of shapes. It is applicable to everything that is around us in everyday life, from
calculation to the geographic shapes around us that can be study by mathematics. Mathematics
makes it easier for a person to understand and evaluate the concepts such as velocity, speed,
light, heat, valences and much more (Siemon et al., 2015). On the other hand, numeracy refers to
the ability to use mathematical skills in our everyday life. By referring one person as numerate
means that they have confidence and skills for using the numbers and mathematical approach in
their everyday life that has nothing to do with their professional expertise. It means that the
person is able to reason with mathematical concepts, use these concepts in a range of contexts,
and solve a variety of problems. Numeracy seems to reflect the way in which children approach
their mathematics, valuing the confidence in and understanding of mathematics (Ares & Evans,
2014).
These two can be distinguish from one another on various grounds. Numeracy and
mathematics are overlapping, but are to separate concept. Mathematics is a much broader
concept than numeracy. Numeracy uses mathematics in some of the contexts to deal with
situations. Hence, it can be point out that mathematics is a scientific discipline whereas
numeracy is merely the application of the knowledge of mathematics in the field. An example

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can be draw from traditional classroom mathematics where it is the understanding of calculus,
quadratic equations, statistical analysis and much more. Example of numeracy can be like
analyzing data to spot trends and anomalies using the mathematical skills (Cooke, 2017).
Similarities between mathematics and numeracy is that the mathematics is the rule and
numeracy are the application of that rule in the real world context. Both deals with the numbers
quantities and shapes and relate to an understanding of basic skills such as addition, division,
subtraction, and multiplication. Example of the similarity can be draw from the classroom.
Arithmetic is a segment where mathematics and numeracy overlap due to their similarities.
Mathematics in Real World
Evidence
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/childrensmaths.pdf

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This resource highlights various learning and teaching process mathematics to the
children. Several cases are clubbed up a portion of the resource where the application of
mathematics by the children in the real world. The case of the zoo visit is taken as the case of
children’s interaction with the real world in the mathematical field is mentioned in the folio.
Rationale
The case is based on a zoo visit of 4-5-year-olds led by a group of adults. This was a
great opportunity to test their mathematical knowledge. This enabled them to verify the data
handling skills of the children in the real world scenario. Moreover, they had the opportunity to
test their limitations of imagination and application of it on the strategies they choose to select in
recording the data. They were provided full freedom to select any strategy they could think of to
record the given data. This test shows clear potential in increasing the mathematical and
numeracy thinking of the children, as they had to use their thinking to perform the task in a
greater pressure than the classroom environment.
Application
The case mentions here shows the application of math in a real-world scenario. They
asked the children to think of three to four of their favourite animals they saw in the zoo and
record it. Furthermore, they were asked to record their friends' favourites and count the animals
that are loved by the most. This is a simple data handling case potential to understand the
children's potential in implementation of their skills in the real world settings, where every child
showed different approach in the process of fulfillment of their tasks. Some formulated the
layout of all the animals and left space for marking the number of children that love the
particular animal. As this task was provided to the children and the method of recording data
was not provided to them, the task what they did shows great sense. This can be used in the

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different scenario has the potential to test the skills of the children and the imagination to relate
their classroom mathematics in the real case scenario. This will provide support in future data
handling (Carruthers & Worthington, 2006; Reys et al., 2014).
Mathematics and Early Childhood
Planned Play
Evidence
http://www.early-years.org/parents/docs/maths-through-play.pdf

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This resource demonstrates the play approach of learning mathematics in the early
childhood stage. As the children in their early stage better learn through play, it is important to
understand the importance of the play approach of learning mathematics. The resource also
identifies how the adults implement the mathematical learning in the children's playing without
manipulating or controlling their play activity.
Rationale
The play is an important approach to teach math to the children. They are continuously
learning the discipline through play. Scholars find it an effective vehicle to embed the
mathematical concepts in their mind and to develop a positive attitude toward the discipline. The
pre-school teachers seek various approaches to combine mathematics in children's playing
activity to grow interested and record and analyze children's response. Sand and water as the
example cited shows its potential in developing and monitoring the mathematical skills of the
children. This way, children learn much faster and develop skills to recognize and remember the
learning.
Application
Implementation of mathematics in sand and water play can prove to be a useful tool to
teach the children mathematics. It is proved best in making them identify and relate the shapes in

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the real world. It could also be implement to develop the idea of weight. They can feel the weight
an express in some simple expressions such as heavy, light, empty, full or even big and light.
The idea of conservation could also be develop by asking them how much it can hold or sustain.
Different shaped boxes and material could be provide to them for comparison the factors
mentioned. Shapes and pattern as mentioned earlier are the best implication of sand and water
play where they can make any shapes by their imagination and relate them with mathematics.
Adults know the differences between wet and dry sand regarding the weight factor. It can be a
useful tool to understand the thinking of the children and the limitations of their imaginations
(Harms, Clifford & Cryer, 2014).
Math in Daily Life
Evidence
http://www.ddsb.ca/school/senecatrail/Documents/Math%20in%20Everyday%20Life.pdf

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Rational
Math can be seen in everyday life not only for children but for adults also. The resource
sees math in this approach and further discusses activities that can increase the mathematical
understanding of the children by involving them in daily life activities. This has a potential
impact on brushing up their knowledge and develops the understanding of math. It also enables
them to relate their school knowledge with the life, which makes it more enjoyable for them.
Application
Various activities mentioned in the resource can help the children to improve their
understanding of math and make math enjoyable for them. This will increase their interest to
learn more. Several activities can be used in accordance with the age group of the children
allowing them to show better potential. For the children up to grade three can be indulged in
sorting the vegetable and counting them, decorating the cake whit varieties of berries, sorting
colour candles, or even storing the leftover in the container where they have to use their
imagination of number and size. Activities for grades four to six could be send to the market for
purchasing small household items where they have to calculate the money to pay for the item and
checking the cash returned to the vendor. The concept of weight will also develop in the process,
as they have to carry the item back to home. The children in grade 7 and 8 could be given the
task of comparison, which can prove to be useful in differentiating. If the product available for
something in a store is, lower or higher than the next store. This way they can develop an idea
for both differentiating and measuring (Harms, Clifford & Cryer, 2014).

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Mathematics and Primary school
Evidence
http://www.ncca.ie/en/Publications/Reports/NCCA_Research_Report_18.pdf
This resource proposes various aspects of the mathematical process that are included in
primary schools all over the country and overseas. Some of the important ways of learning
mathematics in classroom settings are reasoning, argumentation, generalizing, justifying,
connecting, problem-solving and representing that are described in the resource. The initial and
most effective way of learning can be communicating to develop mathematics in primary school
children.

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Rationale
Communication is considered as the soul of mathematics where many scholars described
it from the multi-literacy perspective. This approach of teaching and learning enables the
students to participate and interact with the issue put forward to them. Learning becomes more
interesting than just replying yes or no to the provided questions and the students’ intellectual
capabilities come forth. It allows the teacher to understand the students’ interpretation and
construction of idea related to the topic taught to them as they take part in the activity for solving
the problem, hence reflecting their understanding regarding the subject matter. Communicative
teaching and learning process can be considered as a beneficial process for the children in
primary school. On the limitation part, the teacher must have an idea to conduct the approach
properly to extract benefit out of it. Improper application can have a negative effect on the minds
of the little children.
Application
There are various ways of communicating mathematics in the primary school classroom
settings. Some of the applicable processes are mentioned below:
Visual communication – It is considered as the best way of learning as it has more impact on the
learning process than reading or listening. Various photographs, constructions, or even 2-D
displays through projector can be used in teaching mathematics in the classroom to make it
interesting.
Digital Communication – technology such as auto collage and Glogster can be used for display.
Oral communication – Class discussion, play, dramatic performances, small group work and
much more can be used in the oral process in teaching mathematics.

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Textual Communication – includes a way of thinking, drawing, scribbles stories which have the
mathematical context to communicate it to the children. For example, the story can make the
children count, make reasoning and much more, which can be beneficial (Riley et al., 2015).
Symbolic Communication – This curriculum communicates a symbolic form of mathematics.
The symbolic communication is conducted in the mathematical approach to make them
accustomed with symbols of mathematics and their implication in the study.
Mathematics and the Learning Environment
Evidence
http://www.darcymoore.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/qt_EPSColor.pdf

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This resource gives a detailed idea of how the environment of the classroom can
stimulate the learning process of children. This report also demonstrates the teaching
environment of the primary schools in New South Wales.
Rationale
The classroom environment plays an active role in stimulating the learning process of
children. A safe and supportive environment is always considered as the positive environment
that can enhance the children to learn mathematics faster. For maintaining the environment, both
the students and teachers requires maintaining an interactive mode to make the most out of it.
The inclusion of play model in the early childhood and primary classroom environment proves to
be effective as they make the learning interesting and appropriate for the children. On the
negative part of the discussion can be based on the grounds of habit. Implementation of this
model of environment for too long can make the children habituated with the process (Afari et
al., 2013).
Application
There are several ways of using the play learning model in a classroom, which will make
the environment more effective. The some of the models can be physical play, nature, books and
rhymes, imaginative play, language, dough, sand and water. These have the potential to stimulate
the learning process as the children learn faster through the play model. These models or designs
can be considered as interactive as it engages the students in activities that enable the children to
think and form an idea for solving the mathematical problems. The replacement of traditional
mathematics classroom with these designs proved to be potentially helpful for the children as
shown in the resource (Fraser, 2015).

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New Modalities and Mathematics
Evidence
http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/ictinecefinal.pdf
This document demonstrates the process of developing a strategy to implement ICT in
early childhood education in New Zealand. The role and potential benefits of early childhood
education are also demonstrated in the article. It also reflects the analysis of survey report that
shows the current implementation of using ICT in childhood education sectors.

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Rationale
ICT has shown its potentiality to develop mathematical thinking among the children of
early age. Various tools and software such as drill and practice, general-purpose graphics
program or even specialized computer manipulative programs can be used to extend their
thinking. It enables them to change, create, save, merge, or even retrieve ideas from different
fields. It will allow the children to think, interact, and play with the ideas and manipulate them to
their will. They can merge different ideas with mathematics to develop wonderful thoughts that
they can represent. The negative impact of the use of ICT is they will stop developing the manual
skills for overusing the software for learning.
Application
The professionals need a proper guidance, examples and support for implementing the
ICT in the early childhood classroom, without which, they will make their personal decisions
about the nature and extent of the use. It will primarily base on the knowledge and the expertise
of the professional regarding the matter. There should be a framework used to implement ICT in
childhood context, and proper sequential usage of the product can bring the desired outcome.
There are numerous ways of applying ICT in development of mathematical learning of early
childhood that can be used. Some are already mentioned in the discussion earlier. There are
several case studies available in the market that describes different methods of integrating ICT in
the everyday course in childhood education, which are the reflection of the learning of
practitioners in several institutions (Archard & Archard, 2016). Different software like general–
purpose graphics program, drill and practice mathematical software and much more can be used
for enriching the knowledge of mathematics and numeric and develop their thinking pattern
using ICT in the childhood classroom education. Children in this process learn mathematics

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through the action of the play and demonstrate their ability of high-level thinking. Mobile phone-
based mathematics learning has come up in recent years. It is the part of ICT where different
mobile phone apps like geometry test, rocket math, dragonfly math are used in the educational
institutions to make the subject more enjoyable for children (Kerckaert, Vanderlinde & van
Braak, 2015).

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References
Afari, E., Aldridge, J. M., Fraser, B. J., & Khine, M. S. (2013). Students’ perceptions of the
learning environment and attitudes in game-based mathematics classrooms. Learning
Environments Research, 16(1), 131-150.
Archard, S., & Archard, S. (2016). Jessica connects: A case study focussing on one child’s use of
information and communication technology (ICT) in an early childhood education
setting.
Ares, N., & Evans, D. M. (2014). Mathematics and numeracy as social and spatial
practice. Education Research International, 2014.
Carruthers, E., & Worthington, M. (2006). Children's mathematics: Making marks, making
meaning. Sage.
Cooke, A. (2017). That First Step: Engaging with Mathematics and Developing Numeracy. 40
years on: We are still learning!, 173.
Fraser, B. (2015). Classroom learning environments. In Encyclopedia of Science Education (pp.
154-157). Springer Netherlands.
Harms, T., Clifford, R. M., & Cryer, D. (2014). Early childhood environment rating scale.
Teachers College Press.
Kerckaert, S., Vanderlinde, R., & van Braak, J. (2015). The role of ICT in early childhood
education: Scale development and research on ICT use and influencing factors. European
Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 23(2), 183-199.

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Reys, R. E., Lindquist, M., Lambdin, D. V., & Smith, N. L. (2014). Helping children learn
mathematics. John Wiley & Sons.
Riley, N., Lubans, D. R., Morgan, P. J., & Young, M. (2015). Outcomes and process evaluation
of a programme integrating physical activity into the primary school mathematics
curriculum: The EASY Minds pilot randomised controlled trial. Journal of Science and
Medicine in Sport, 18(6), 656-661.
Siemon, D. E., Beswick, K., Brady, K., Clark, J., Faragher, R., & Warren, E. (2015). Teaching
mathematics. Oxford University Press.